As network technologies continue to evolve, the possibility of connecting people and organizations together in more efficient arrangements grows. Networks such as the cellular phone networks give individuals the ability to move around freely, yet still communicate over the telephone with other individuals. For example, in the last few years the explosive growth of the use of cellular phones has increased tremendously the ability of people to connect with other people from a variety of different locations (i.e. in the car, at a restaurant, in the super market). As societies become more and more mobile, new solutions are required to satisfy the growing demands and needs of these mobile individuals.
As one example, consider the traditional network paradigm for Internet access. Traditionally, there are a couple of different ways for an individual to access the Internet. First, the individual might have a personal account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) whereby they can access the Internet through, for example, their home computer. Their home computer establishes a link with the ISP through a modem or special communication line. Once the link is established, generally over a wired line, they can typically use ISP-provided software to browse the Internet. In this example, an individual's Internet access is either tied to their wired link provider, or to the ISP through which they have their account. Second, an individual might be able to access the Internet through a network that is provided and maintained by their employer. While they are at work, they can access the Internet through the use of employer-provided resources. In this example, an individual's Internet access is tied to their employer and/or their employer's resources.
Neither of these paradigms provides an individual with the freedom to access the Internet from any location and without any dependence on a particular ISP or their company. Rather, Internet accessibility for these individuals is necessarily tied to either or both of (1) signing up for an account with a particular ISP for Internet access, or (2) being a member of a particular corporation through which Internet access is provided. It would be desirable to eliminate the dependence of Internet access on either or both of these elements.
Presently, there is much enthusiasm around the impending deployment and availability of the so-called “third generation” (3G) wide-area cellular networks. These 3G wide-area cellular networks will give individuals the ability to connect to other individuals, via a cellular phone, from many different locations. Furthermore, these networks will enable individuals to transmit and receive data packets which are necessary for Internet communications.
There are, however, limitations that are inherent with both the current wide-area cellular networks and the future 3G wide-area cellular networks that make their use as an Internet connectivity medium less than desirable. For example, current wide-area data networks (e.g. which use a Ricochet modem from Metricom) support transmission rates that are about 50 Kbps. In the next few years, when 3G wide-area cellular networks are available, the data packet transmission rates are expected to go up to around 2 Mbps per cell size. Each cell is generally sized between 1 to 2 miles in diameter, depending on where the cell is located. A data rate of 2 Mbps per cell size means that the maximum data rate an individual in a cell can hope to get will be around 2 Mbps when there are no other individuals using the network. A more realistic scenario is the case where there are several hundred individuals in a single cell. In this case, any individual might get only 100 to 150 kbps of bandwidth for data transmission. This transmission rate is frustratingly slow and will inevitably lead to customer dissatisfaction.
In the local area networking space (i.e. networking within a building or a home), transmission rates are as high as 11 Mbps today. In the near future, these rates are expected to go up to around 54 Mbps. In the more distant future (e.g. in about 5 years), this rate is expected to be upwards of 100 Mbps. Thus, there is a disparity between local area wireless network (WLAN) system performance and wide area wireless network (WWAN) system performance in terms of access speeds. Using the above transmission rates, it can be seen that the difference in system performance is about 25 times faster in WLANs than in WWANs.
This has led to a problem for which a solution has not yet been found. The problem concerns how to provide high speed Internet access from all places beyond those traditionally in the domain of LANs (i.e. corporations and homes). For example, individuals often spend a great deal of time in public places such as airports, libraries, and restaurants. Yet, Internet access is not typically provided in these public areas. If Internet access is provided, it is typically tied to a particular ISP and the consumer really has no choices whatsoever concerning such things as quality of service, type of service available, and the like.
Accordingly, this invention arose out of concerns associated with improving network access so that a network, such as the Internet, can be accessed from a variety of places or locations at high speeds. In particular, the invention arose out of concerns associated with enhancing Internet wireless connectivity speeds in the wide area.